Star Indian boxer Vijender Singh returned to winning ways in style as he notched a knockout win over Ghana’s Eliasu Sulley Raipur on Wednesday.
Vijender, who delivered India’s first Olympic and men’s world championship medals in boxing, showed his class as he dominated Sulley. Vijender landed the winning blow in the second round of what was to be a six-round contest to leave the reigning national West Africa Boxing Union Champion dazed.
The 36-year-old Beijing Olympics bronze medallist needed only five minutes and seven seconds to dispatch the Ghanian, who till now had a 100 per cent knockout record. It is Vijender’s 13th pro-boxing win. His only loss on the professional circuit had come last year in March when he went down to Russia’s Artysh Lopsan.
“It’s good to be back. We start our season with a victory. It wasn’t easy to fight against (Sulley). Will return to the gym in a week and will fight again in December or January,” Vijender said after the win.
Walking out to the “So high” song by the late Sidhu Moose Wala, Vijender oozed confidence from the beginning. He used his long reach and straight jabs to good effect, putting his opponent under pressure, to the delight of the partisan crowd.
He relied on a combination of punches to get the job done and was technically far more superior to Sulley. In the second round, he gave his opponent a chance to attack as he switched to counter attacking.
However, Sulley had no answer to Vijender’s onslaught as he fell to the canvas and got the his first count of the night. The Bhiwani boxer then landed a series of straight jabs, hooks and upper cuts which took the wind out of Sulley as he clinched the rope. Another hook from behind spelt the end of the contest.
In the other fights of the evening, Asad Asif Khan out-punched Amey Nitin in the feather weight category. Then Ashish Sharma suffered at the hands of Karthik Satish Kumar in the light weight category.
Gurpreet Singh also notched an unanimous decision win over Saikhom Rebaldo while Faizan Anwar registered a knockout victory over Sachin Nautiyal in the welterweight competition.